This report concerns the EasyRider tire repair kit offered by MurphsKits. I was asked to test the kit on a tire that was near the end of its life but still useable. This kit consists of a small 12V pump that you plug into a cigarette lighter and a few ounces of sealant. I followed the directions to the letter, except where they concerned uniquely automotive applications, and here are my results:
The kit is designed to get a vehicle tire driveable and it did that. I have no doubt that this is a very good kit for any car or truck. It is also quite useful for motorcyclists. The sealant, however, is not a permanent repair, at least not on my motorcycle. But it certainly did well enough that, in a real-world flat situation, I could safely get the bike to a shop even if it took days to get there. It would, however, require more frequent tire pressure monitoring.
First I put a drywall screw into the rear tire. Upon removal, air began hissing from the puncture.
The cap on the bottle of sealant is a valve stem removal tool. With the valve stem out, stick the tubing onto the valve and squeeze it all into the tire. On a motorcycle, you would have to have the bike on the centerstand or some way of holding up the bike. The tire is going to go completely flat with the valve stem out.
The tube is a little short, mine wouldn't allow me to invert the bottle over the stem without crimping the tube. I just had to bend the valve stem while I squeezed, to keep the tube clear.
The tube was impossible for me to pull off once it was on the valve. It was about to tear up the valve stem. I had to break it away from the stem, and then cut it away with a blade.
The pump is pretty standard, no faster or slower than others of its kind. It does pack quite small, that's nice, and the way it screws onto the valve is better than most, wasting less air. It gets quite hot even after a minute's operation, hot enough to burn if you touch any metal part of it. My test pump has done the tire and a few other inflations, it hasn't given any trouble yet.
Of note in the instructions is that the vehicle must be driven within one minute of filling the tire with air. I followed the instructions to the letter, which means I did the repair in full gear (in the GA sun with a heat index over a hundred), threw the pump and tools into a pile, and jumped on the bike to put on the required three miles. This is not very feasible for a real road-side situation, especially since the pump is so hot you can't pack it away. It seems that it would be OK to wait the 2-3 minutes it takes to put on gear and pack away the pump before riding off, but I'm not the product designer.
I did not lose air during the ride, in fact as the tire warmed I gained a couple pounds of pressure. But I lost air after a couple of days and a very tiny amount of sealant would come out of the puncture.
I took the bike camping and put on over 600 miles. Every night I would lose a few pounds of air, and every morning I would use the pump to bring the tire back to pressure. It would not lose any noticeable amount of air during rides and short gas and rest stops. Only when the bike sat for hours would I lose air.
I am interested in what kind of mess I will face when I remove that tire from the rim in the next few days.
Also, the instructions say not to exceed 55 mph with the repair. I know I did a few higher-speed runs with no ill effects.
